We talk about UX as if every user were human. But robots, algorithms and AI agents are users too, and designing for them has a name: XCI.
HCI (Human-Computer Interaction) assumes the user is human. But in practice, non-human entities (robots, recommendation algorithms, SEO crawlers, AI agents) also interact with and shape systems. XCI (X-Computer Interaction) extends HCI so the X can be any entity: biological, mechanical or cybernetic, even a baby, an animal or a Mars rover. XCI keeps HCI’s proven premises but makes them elastic, and it is a core piece of Quantum UX, letting you design and test experiences for every kind of user, human or not.
Key takeaways
- HCI centers humans, but many real users are non-human entities.
- In UML, an 'actor' (Cockburn) can be any entity, defined by role, and roles often overlap.
- XCI generalizes HCI: X is any entity, biological, mechanical or cybernetic.
- You already design for machines: SEO pleases crawlers; analytics tools shape your decisions.
- XCI plus Quantum UX lets you design and test millions of personalized, multidimensional experiences.
Actors, roles and their limits
In Writing Effective Use Cases, Alistair Cockburn defines the parties in a process as ‘actors’, and an actor can be any biological or cybernetic entity, identified by role, not by what it is. A 50-year-old man and a 25-year-old woman are the same ‘customer’ in the model. The trouble: UML says roles never associate, yet real processes constantly overlap them (one person can be client, content creator and viewer of the same website). The model works as a diagram, but a system whose rules you must break to use it is neither consistent nor precise.
XCI: a superior state of HCI
XCI replaces the ‘human’ of HCI with X: an entity of any type. It even covers experiences that occur when the entity does not consciously ‘live’ them, and it democratizes UX design: a biological entity is not only an adult who can fill a survey, but a baby, a person with a disability, or an animal. All of this is impossible in HCI by definition, yet we experience it daily.
You already design for machines
The Mars rover Sojourner had more UX and HCI investment than most human users ever get. Closer to home: any SEO works constantly to please a machine, a crawler or a spider. The ads and services you will see after reading this are curated by cybernetic entities. When a tool tells you which keyword, color or wording performs best and you adjust to please it, that is a mutual synergy, and it is XCI, not just HCI. It even has a name we all use: user experience research, via tools like Analytics, Hotjar and Ahrefs.
XCI vs Design Thinking
A UML diagram (and Design Thinking) is linear, sequential and two-dimensional. XCI is not a methodology at all, but a small part of Quantum UX. A QUX process diagram would be three-dimensional, multiform, even amorphous or infinite. (Not coincidentally, Dorve’s own homepage uses morphing shapes, and you may not see the same content on every visit, a simple demonstration of QUX.)
Human-Computer Interaction: the study of how humans interact with computers through interfaces, at the intersection of computer science, behavioral science and design.
X-Computer Interaction: an extension of HCI where the user (X) can be any entity, biological, mechanical or cybernetic, not only a human.
Yes. Robots, recommendation algorithms, SEO crawlers and AI agents all interact with and shape systems, so XCI treats them as users.
HCI assumes a human user and rigid roles. XCI keeps HCI’s premises but makes them elastic, covering any entity and overlapping roles.
XCI is a core component of Quantum UX. Together they let you design and test millions of personalized, multidimensional experiences for every kind of user.
Designing for humans, machines and everything between? Talk to Dorve.
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